Assault on Pike's Peak - Amazing

Awesome ride! Clearly the toughest hill climb in CO; heard many say one of toughest in US. Avg. grade 6.7 and many sections >10%! Much, much harder than Evans. First ride I've been at where they have an Oxygen Tank/rebreather masks at summit for people to use - and many were! Perfect weather, clear/sunny sky with winds "only" in 30-40mph gusts; the dirt section better shape than much of the Boulder Roubaix type dirt, and only 2miles of it; they "controlled" the descent so that there were not mass numbers of people on ride down (which was very nice, allowing one to enjoy scenery which is breathtaking (or was I short of breath for other reasons...). Roadway closed - so no traffic to deal with at all! Only negative was that the food at aid stations was extremely limited (nutrition bars and bananas) and gatorade/water

Night before dinner/pasta feed was also veerrry tasty, with lots of wine and beer available.

For those who made it to top - congrats; for those who missed it - make noise to have this be an annual event!

Pike's is shorter with more elevation - so the overall grade of Pike's is significantly harder (and the numerous sections of high percent grade just don't exist on Evans - as Evans is largely a moderate grade, and with a few downhills even) .... and, for some reason, (or so I'm told) Pike's has "more" wind (tho that of course will vary). I agree - the wind on Sunday was very tough - and made for a very cold section just below the toll gate...

Is this a race or ride? I've seen it called both in the media. I'd like to try this sometime but I'm not interested in a race. Hope it becomes an annual event.

I'm not sure this is answerable, but how hard of a ride is it? Do you need to be 130lbs and in top form or can someone who is of average fitness make it? I've never ridden a 14er but I've climbed several so I'm familiar with the altitude issues and have ridden steeper grades - just not consistently up and up and up.

Originally Posted by DnvrFox

The top of PP is 14,115 feet

Was 14,110 when I was kid and I think the sign at top still says that. Nice that it's managed to grow up a bit

It's a "timed event" - meaning there was a mass start, and a timed finish. Nothing but bragging rights at stake.

How hard? Depends on what you want "your ride" to be. There were lots of people "suffering" to go fast; even more people who were suffering just to finish. BUT most anyone who has the right mindset of "to finish is to win" will finish, even if it means some walking your bike. Lot's of people (including me) were weaving the steepest grades to "shallow them out" .

Just do it.

Originally Posted by bikerjp

Is this a race or ride? I've seen it called both in the media. I'd like to try this sometime but I'm not interested in a race. Hope it becomes an annual event.

I'm not sure this is answerable, but how hard of a ride is it? Do you need to be 130lbs and in top form or can someone who is of average fitness make it? I've never ridden a 14er but I've climbed several so I'm familiar with the altitude issues and have ridden steeper grades - just not consistently up and up and up.

Was 14,110 when I was kid and I think the sign at top still says that. Nice that it's managed to grow up a bit

I thought the support for the ride was horrible, I won't do it again because of that. For the huge registration fee I expected a lot more. Not even a ride back down, unless you had $20 CASH. Winds were horrible, freezing cold at the top but I brought enough clothing to make it through. Past tree line it gets a lot harder with the wind and grades.

I'm not sure this is answerable, but how hard of a ride is it? Do you need to be 130lbs and in top form or can someone who is of average fitness make it? I've never ridden a 14er but I've climbed several so I'm familiar with the altitude issues and have ridden steeper grades - just not consistently up and up and up.

It's not as bad as it sounds. If you are in average shape and have spent some time on cat1 climbs (although this would prob be considering a HC) then you should be ok. For me it was a lot more mental than I expected. I think I should have taken more breaks, but I wanted a decent time. I weighed 165 (6' tall) and was middle of the pack in time. I don't race, just ride for pleasure and stupid **** like going up 14ners. Deer Creek canyon is good practice, just cuz it's so long.

Ok, so I gotta ask...how many of our 14ers can we bike? I knew about Evans and Pikes, but not Elbert. I've hiked several and can rule out Grey's/Torrey's, Longs, Sherman and Quandary.

Pikes and Evans are on the To Do list this summer!!

I think Mt. Princeton has a road most of the way up. There's a road on Bross too, but I'm not sure its extent. Grays has an easy trail and mtb'ing it would be doable, but it's probably banned. I think mtbs are prohibited in wilderness areas.